The Interview: Mark Nix

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - More than 30-years ago, Mark Nix moved to the Alabama Gulf Coast to be near the beach and prepare for his future. Now, as president and CEO of Infirmary Health Systems, he leads an organization that cares for thousands of people in south Alabama daily. 

Nix recently talked about the business of health care, its future and what led him to infirmary health.  

BEFORE HE WAS PRESIDENT/CEO

"I thought I would come down here a few years and grow up and then go find what I was going to do with the rest of my life. I fell in love with the area, fell in love with the people and the community," Nix said.

The Russellville, Alabama, native and University of Alabama accounting graduate, arrived in Mobile in 1981 where he worked at a CPA firm and later for the company that owned Bel Air mall.

"My time at Bel Air, I was really exposed to a lot of development opportunities, and opportunities where we were buying and selling businesses. (It was) a lot of negotiation, and a lot of work with lawyers," said Nix.

In 1987 that job ended and left Nix looking. 

A friend who worked at the infirmary told him about an opportunity. 

"They're interested in building some medical office buildings for physicians.  So I came over here on a call, and that was 25 years ago February," Nix said.  "A great institution and really, really a neat family, (it’s) an organization that I think has a very historic and passionate care for the community.”

Mobile Infirmary has provided medical care to the community for more than 100 years. 

Now, as Infirmary Health Systems, it has what Nix calls a "broader foot print” with four- area hospitals and more than 30 medical facilities. 

With more than 5,000 employees, it's one of Alabama's top 10 employers.

Infirmary Health Systems is also rated one of the top health care systems in the United States.

Nix said, "I think the financial background really prepared me primarily for what I do now as a systems COO or CEO.

RUNNING A “COMMUNITY BUSINESS”

Nix became President and CEO in 2009 of what he calls a community based health system. 

"We have to run it as a business. We have to run it with the community in mind because it is owned by the community. We're trying to create a bottom line that allows us to be here for a long period of time, to continue to bring services and medical technology to the community.  We want to serve all the citizens of both sides of the bay and south Alabama, to really keep those people from having to leave the community to find care other places," said Nix.

Nix said there a few challenges he and the infirmary face daily.

"The technology is very expensive in this business. Certainly, bringing in physicians to add specialties and specialty of care to the region is expensive. The biggest challenge to me is just how do you pay for all this," Nix shares.

Nix said another major challenge is caring for the uninsured.

"I think there's a large misconception that all the uninsured people will have no care at all, and that's just not true in America. The people without insurance are being cared for generally in the emergency rooms of hospitals around the nation," Nix said.

He said the health care needs of the uninsured and the insured have shifted from what Mobile Infirmary provided in the past.

Nix said, "Many of the health challenges today are around social issues. (The challenges are) they're obesity, and they're smoking.  We're going to have to really get a focus on health care, change some lifestyles in order to really improve our health."

MOVING FORWARD

Infirmary Health Systems has developed programs to help all of its clients.  Programs that he said will lower costs for the employer and the employee, and he said it’s the future of health care.

"We have a strategic initiative around wellness. We're going thru biometric screening to determine their risk factors related to those type issues, diabetes, hypertension and other type issues. We have a focus on wellness. We have a focus on improved health, and that's actually going to be the future of health care," said Nix.

Nix said it’s going to be difficult for every hospital in the state to keep its doors open. 

He wants Infirmary Health Systems to build a larger network to give it a better chance for survival.  He said the company is not only exploring acquisitions, but creating relationships with other Gulf Coast health care entities that have a common mission.